Abstract
Dick Ivy was born and raised in Boston MA. He joined the U.S. Army in 1946 and while stationed with the Army in Japan he met his wife Lily. Dick and Lily were married in Kansas in 1954. After a 20-year stint, he retired from the military and became a Civil Service Officer in Public Relations and Media Supervision at Foti Eustis, Virginia.
A long-time bird person, Dick was a member of the Tidewater Bird Club which evolved into what is now Parrot Breeders. At that time he had hundreds of finches. Dick Ivy authored many concepts promoting local and national exotic bird clubs, the latest being Bird Clubs of America (BCA) in 1992. BCA is a subscription club management service for leadership at club, state, or national levels. As the federation grew, the Species Breeding Partnerships were created in 1992 and the Alliance Clubs and Societies in January 1994.
At times, Dick's birds numbered up to 200 individuals comprised of numerous species of finches and parrots. Because of his love and dedication to birds, he traveled to Venezuela and Peru to observe birds in the wild, worked at a bird rescue center in the Peten Jungle of Guatemala, and attended many conventions including the 2003 AFA convention in San Antonio, Texas.
Dick has encouraged states to form federations of independent clubs, he was the organizer of Bird Clubs of Virginia (BCV) 20 years ago and was its administrative coordinator for 15 years. Since 1983, he has been co-organizer and chairman of the Peninsula Caged Bird Society (PCBS) currently consisting of 160 families from Southeast Virginia. The National Cockatiel Society (NCS) magazine was edited by Dick for 18 months and a parrot breeder's journal for six months, setting new standards for both. He has received many society awards and an American Federation of Aviculture (AFA) Award in 1988 for assisting BCV. Dick served as AFA State Coordinator in 1989 and Regional Vice President in 1990-91.
Manager, producer, singer, and actor in opera and theater organizations for 10 years, are among Dick's vast credits. He was also an ordained minister. He served as Chairman of the York County Historical Committee for six years, as chairman of another historical group for nine years, and published graphic histories in compendiums for both groups.
Dick was one of President Bush's Thousand Points of Light for Volunteer Activities coinciding with Chairmanship of Yorktown's Gala Tricentennial Celebration in 1991. In January 1993 he published a 230-page biography of Brig. General Abraham Eustis, the person for whom Fort Eustis is named, a culmination of 15 years of research.
Dick was well known and much loved in the bird world and we will greatly miss his presence.